Fire destroys mobile home in St. Augustine

Fire engulfs a trailer in a mobile home park off Hilltop Road in St. Augustine near State Road 207. The fire started around 6 p.m. Friday and caused severe damage to the trailer. There were no injuries in the fire, said Jeremy Robshaw, public information officer with St. Johns Fire Rescue. Neighbors said the tenant's dog also made it out unharmed. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

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Fire engulfed and destroyed a mobile home in a trailer park Friday night at 2895 Hilltop Road near State Road 207 in St. Augustine.

The fire started around 6 p.m., and firefighters with St. Johns County Fire-Rescue responded to the scene, said Jeremy Robshaw, St. Johns County Fire Rescue public information officer.

A little after 6 p.m., flames reached out from the roof and windows of the trailer, and most of the roof of the mobile home crumbled within minutes as firefighters worked to extinguish the fire.

Nobody was in the home when the trailer caught fire, Robshaw said. There were no injuries reported, but the trailer sustained severe damage. The fire was contained within 10 or 15 minutes after firefighters arrived.

Names of the residents were not available at press time.

The tenant of the trailer arrived shortly before the fire started, said Cpl. Catherine Payne with the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office. She put her things down and went to check on something. When she came back, she saw smoke.

By the time deputies arrived, the trailer was fully engulfed, Payne said.

Residents of the mobile home park gathered outside of their trailers in small groups and watched. Others walked down the winding dirt path to get a closer look.

The tenant of the trailer that burned sat at the lot across the road as friends and neighbors comforted her.

Neighbors said that the tenant was able to make it out before the fire became severe. Also, her small black dog was not injured in the fire, they said. He roamed around on the dirt nearby as everyone else watched.

One man said he saw smoke and flames and then came down to watch, and by the time he got there the flames were already touching the treetops.

After the fire was extinguished, firefighters sprayed down the scorched metal and searched inside of the mobile home to make sure nothing else was burning. They also pulled metal off the exterior to make sure the frame was fully extinguished.

The trailer that burned down was lot No. 9, according to a firefighter on scene and the landlord.

“I’m just glad nobody got hurt,” said property manager Nancy Sinatsch, who stood in front of the lot and stared at the remains. “I don’t know if I’m going to be able to replace this.”

She said her parents, who own the trailer park, were in Pennsylvania at the time of the fire.

She said she had just been over to check on the trailer earlier in the day.

Sinatsch said the family that lived there has been there for several years.

“They’re a really nice family,” she said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation by St. Johns County Fire-Rescue.

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